I doubt anyone could have predicted that Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, directed by James Gunn, would become the highest-grossing movie of the year so far.  Sure movie-goers have embraced super hero movies, but ‘Guardians’ is based on a comic that is fairly obscure even among comic readers.  Even so, it smashed expectations, proving that super heroes didn’t have to already be household names to draw major mainstream audiences.  That means we can probably expect both Marvel and DC to delve deeper into their archives for film properties.

Rumors are swirling that DC wants its own cosmic property and are eying none other than the Legion of Super Heroes to take to the stars.  The concept originated in the ‘Superboy’ comic book in 1958.  The idea was that in the 30th Century, the cosmos was protected by a team of teenage super heroes, each hailing from a different planet.  Eventually both Superboy and Supergirl began time traveling to the future to go on adventures with the group.

Every member of the team wore a ring which allowed them to fly and communicate with the others and the team employed time traveling bubbles.  The first three members were Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, but the teams soon ballooned with over a dozen members.

The Earth-born contribution to the team was Karate Kid.  Of course we all remember the classic eighties film series, and to a degree the recent reboot starring Jadden Smith, but did you know that the producers of the films had to get permission from DC to use the name and there is even a tiny mention in the credits that the name was owned by DC?  I wonder if the original Karate Kid will surface on the big screen.

The characters have appeared in animation, even headlining their own show at one point.  The three founders also appeared in live action on ‘Smallville.’

Supposedly, DC has sent out Legion comics to screenwriters in order to gauge interest in the project.  They will then entertain pitches from these screenwriters, so obviously this is not even in development yet.  It should be years before we ever see this on the big screen.  (Also, this could have the hugest cast ever!)

What do you think? Would you go see a Legion of Super Heroes film?

Source: Cinema Blend